[unreadable] [unreadable] The current application seeks partial support for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) summer research conference on "Liver Growth, Development and Disease". For the past 18 years, this meeting has been held biannually and is now recognized as the world's premier conference covering all aspects of basic science research involving the liver. The conference will be held from August 3rd to 7th, 2008 in Snowmass, Colorado. The main goals of the conference are to i) integrate the research advances offered by disparate areas of liver biology in order to foster new collaborative projects on both a national and international scale, ii) encourage junior investigators and women scientists to pursue liver research to ensure that the study of hepatic disease and biology remains vigorous and iii) accelerate translation of fundamental advances in liver biology into novel clinical treatments through the interaction of basic and clinical researchers. These goals will be achieved through i) the presentations made by thirty-two invited speakers and multiple short 'late-breaking' talks to be presented by junior investigators chosen to represent the most significant recent advances in liver research, and ii) ensuring informal interactions between speakers and conference attendees throughout their stay. Session topics include Hepatic Development and Differentiation, which addresses mechanisms of early liver growth, Liver Metabolism in Health and Disease, a complex area of liver function, Gene Regulation and Genetic Networks, with emphasis on new findings in chromatin remodeling, Signals that Control Liver Growth, in which disease states that impact these processes will be discussed, Liver Progenitor and Stem Cells, an exciting area with great potential for liver therapy, Viral Hepatitis and Hepatocarcinogenesis, which focuses on pathways that may become therapeutic targets, Gene Therapy and Bioengineering, in which novel approaches to liver disease will be presented, and Liver Injury and Fibrosis, which covers the interactions of various cell types in the liver and the role of stellate and endothelial cells in this important diseases process. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]